NEW IN WND

He's baaack! Gonzo columnist returns

Muckraker Stuart Goldman's unique writing last appeared here in 2001

Rested, tanned and a victor over cancer, Stuart Goldman returns to WND’s Commentary page as a weekly columnist after a hiatus of 13 years.

Goldman’s first column for WND dates back to 1998, just a year after the news site’s birth. He recalls telling WND founder Joseph Farah at the time: “Just think of me as your resident Hunter Thompson.” Thompson was a journalist and author whose work pioneered “gonzo” journalism, characterized by first-person narrative and outside-the-box writing.

During the three years he first wrote for WND, Goldman says, two things happened: He accepted Christianity, and, as his political beliefs solidified, he ultimately made the transition to “conservative” journalism.

Even so, Goldman stresses that his column, dubbed “Final Cut,” is not political, “not by any stretch of the imagination,” he says.

H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain and G.K. Chesterton are Goldman’s mentors – both in style and theme. “If there’s one thing I intend to do,” Goldman says, “it’s to revive the kind of criticism that made the work of the original muckrakers so fresh and vital.”

In his writing, Goldman takes aim at humanity’s excesses, include pomposity, maudlinism, conformity, greed, incompetence and hypocrisy, he says.

Goldman is remaining silent about what specifically he’s going to offer WND readers. Though he says he may have lightened up a little since the old “take-no-prisoners” days, he still intends to rattle some cages: “My old fans won’t be disappointed.”

Recently, Goldman won a battle with prostate cancer. He wrote in a column for WND last week: “I am a testament to the reality of the power of prayer. When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, I truly believe that had it not been for all of the people who were praying for me, that stupid robot that removed my cancerous prostate wouldn’t have done one damn bit of good. Today I am cancer free, and I continue to thank God each and every day for saving my life.”

Goldman’s essays, columns and critical reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Herald-Examiner, the L.A. Free Press, the Orange County Times, the L.A. Weekly, the L.A. Reader, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paris Match, High Times, National Lampoon, Esquire, WND and National Review.

About his gonzo-journalism style, Goldman states, “There’s no formula. I just try to tell the truth, and to be entertaining. I’m more interested in the heart than the head.”